


Enchanted

by AweburnPhoenix



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blind Date, F/M, PendrellDeservedBetter, SoDidMelissa, Twitter Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 18:04:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18348890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AweburnPhoenix/pseuds/AweburnPhoenix
Summary: Pendrell gets to finally have a date with (a) Scully





	Enchanted

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a tweet from @DancesWithCybermen (@tRothaar): «Pendrell was a sweetheart who deserved someone nice. Oooh: Pendrell and Melissa! 😍 Someone needs to write that AU.»
> 
> Audio version available on the Audio Fanfic Podcast [here](https://soundcloud.com/audiofanficpod/xf-enchanted-by-aweburnphoenix)

 

Sitting at his computer in the sci-crime lab, Sean Pendrell was daydreaming about Agent Scully. It was his favorite pastime. How soon would the X-Files have some interesting case they needed his help with? It had been a couple weeks since they had been asking for his help, and he couldn't wait to see her again. Whenever he got a piece of evidence with Dana Scully's name on it, he would think about how she must have picked it, carefully and diligently. He wished he could be that piece of evidence to be handled by her. _Weird, Sean!_ he admonished himself. Sometimes he couldn't help it, he was completely bewildered by her. The enigmatic Agent Scully.

Sean had met her four years before when she was teaching at the Academy, but he hadn't had the chance to interact that much with her until she started working with "Spooky" Muld— Agent Mulder. He didn't like the nickname he had been given. Fox Mulder was a magnificent agent, and he had always been nice to him. Definitely more respectful than some of his fellow field agents, who were always on a hurry to get the lab results sooner rather than later. Fox Mulder was no less in that sense, of course everybody wanted to solve their cases as quickly as possible. But he didn't rush him to the point of insanity. Well, lately he didn't need to. As soon as Sean got a piece of evidence from the amazing Agent Scully it always landed at the top of his pile.

Mulder was a lucky dude, having such a beautiful and intelligent partner.

"Hey! Are you dating someone, Agent Pendrell?" Dana's voice sounded, out of the blue, at the lab door behind him and Sean turned as fast as he could.

Seeing Agent Scully there made his heart skip a beat. He couldn't believe he had summoned her up just by thinking about her. He sat up, stretching out, pondering her words. Was agent Scully asking him on a date?

"No, not currently…" _Or in the last four years that I've been secretly loving you_ , he thought. His mind always slowed down whenever she was around, and he couldn't make any intelligent remark on time. It was as if his heart racing made his brain hamper. Damn human body!

"I'll get back to you on that," she added, quickly leaving.

"Oh, ok. Thank you."

Thank you? What was wrong with him? He had a Ph.D., for God's sakes, how come with Agent Scully around he always behaved like a teenage kid with no vocabulary or brain cells? This had to stop. He had to find a way to calm down or he would never get any further.

 

"Are you free on Friday evening?"

Agent Scully's head popped through the lab door again a couple of hours later.

"Yes, always."

 _C’mon, man. She doesn't need to know your life is that sad. Don't be such a doof!_ Sean tried to calm down, but he could sense his heart beating faster than the speed of light, almost jumping out of his chest. That was it, was he finally getting a date with Dana Scully?

She walked in with a smile on her face and handed him a piece of paper.

"Well, not anymore you aren’t." She looked at him and Sean thought his heart had melted, instantly. That woman had the cutest smile he had ever witnessed. Those sparkling eyes… Every time he saw her, he felt as if his life was extended.

"I can't wait!" He managed to yell some time later as he came down from his cloud, only to realize she was already gone.

Sean looked around and noticed he was alone in the lab. He cursed his bad luck. Dana Scully had asked him on a date and he had nobody to boast about it to. He had no witnesses and no one would believe him. Dana Scully, the Ice Queen –which he was sure was a stupid and undeserved nickname– wanted to date him.

Sean decided it was time to leave for the day. There was no way he would get any more work done now that he was high on expectations. Thousands of questions riddled his mind: What was he going to wear? What kind of restaurant was this? Was she expecting him to drive her home later? Why wouldn't she ask him to take her there? He knew what an independent woman she was, so he didn't want to be too condescending or make her feel bad. But he had it in his bones to pamper women. Should he buy her some flowers?

Suddenly he found himself in the lobby still wearing his lab coat. _C'mon, Sean, you gotta calm down or you are going to ruin this_ , he breathed deeply turning around. It was going to be a long week.

 

The days rushed by faster than he had imagined. During the time Sean spent not working, he went over every interesting detail he could think about to prepare for his date with the wondrous Dana Scully. He still couldn't believe it was happening. Sean didn't want to bore her and he knew he had dozens of things to talk to her about. After all, she was always interested in his work. Whenever she or Mulder gave him some piece of evidence, he worked hard to squeeze the most out of it. And when Mulder always wanted just the results, Dana asked about how he had gotten there. She was really a curious mind, and he couldn't love it more.

He left work at 7 pm sharp and rushed home, to shower and get ready. He didn't want to be late or have to hurry and be sweaty. He was already burning inside with anticipation.

As soon as he arrived at the restaurant, he realized he hadn't been the one to have made the reservation, so he didn't know whether it was under his name or hers.

"A table for Pendrell… or Scully?" He sheepishly asked the guy at the entrance.

Fortunately, the young man didn't make fun of him, because Sean needed all of his confidence to stay with him. The boy guided him to his table and only then Sean realized he was really early for the date. He'd have to wait for almost half an hour before Dana showed up at the time she had noted down on the piece of paper. He asked for a soda. No way he was getting drunk before she arrived, that would be a lame shot.

Almost an hour later, and Sean was starting to believe that Dana had stood him up. He felt like the dumbest man in the world. Why would he had thought such a goddess would take an interest in him? Was this only a prank? No, Dana Scully didn't seem like the kind of woman who—

"Agent Pendrell?" he heard an unfamiliar voice ask.

"Yes?" He turned around and he found a lovely redhead standing by his side.

"Sorry, Dana forgot to tell me your name," she added, extending her right hand.

"Sean, name's Sean, " he replied. Still confused, he managed to get up to shake the woman's hand. Looking into her eyes he could see a familiar shade of blue.

"I'm Melissa, but you can call me Missy."

She grinned and he immediately understood. She had that unmistakable Scully smile. Dana had set him up on a date with her sister!

Now it all made sense. Of course Dana wouldn't be interested in him. How could she, when she had such a handsome and athletic partner? Ok, maybe this was as close as he could get to her. He might as well make the most of the opportunity.

As he guided Melissa to the chair in front of him and helped her sit, he realized the first difference between the sisters: Missy kept her smile always up. That radiant smile was precious.

They quickly ordered their meal and some wine, and soon they were chatting lightly.

“So, Sean. Dana tells me you are a scientist, too. Please tell me you are not as narrow-minded as she is,” she bluntly asked and he was again amazed to see how different they both were.

He had never heard Dana being so straightforward, or maybe she was and he was so dazed by her that he hadn't noticed?

“I wouldn't say so, no. In my field of expertise, there are always new discoveries, and I try to stay updated. What is it that you do for a living?” He suddenly changed the subject, not wanting to bore her with his scientific talk. That might have worked with Dana, but something told him that he should stay away from that now. It seemed best to get to know her, find out about her interests, and move from there. It had been some time since he had tried to woo a woman. But he wanted to believe that he could do it again. He had to, he didn't want to disappoint Dana.

“Well, I have a holistic shop in Annapolis.”

“Wow, that's exotic!” Sean was impressed. He rested his chin on his knuckles. Most of the people he knew, and there were not many, were FBI agents or scientists. He wasn't very outgoing and had trouble making new acquaintances.

He noticed Melissa hadn’t replied yet and was weirdly staring at him.

“Sorry, did I say something wrong?”

“No, not at all. I’m just not used to Dana’s friends being interested in things other than DNA and computers. I was waiting for the rolled-eyed expression of ‘what kind of lunatic is Dana Scully’s sister’.”

"No! Not at all!" Sean started thinking about what sort of friends would Dana have that laughed at her sister like that. "So, pardon my ignorance, but what does exactly a holistic shop sell?"

"Well, mostly candles, incense, oils and burners. Gemstones, dreamcatchers, crystals, chakras…" She started reciting things that he knew about and then others that he didn't, and suddenly she stopped. Looking intently into his eyes –somehow it seemed like she was reading into his very soul– she then continued. "Ok, you are still not laughing or making faces. I think we might even be compatible."

Without any warning, she grabbed his hand, which was resting on top of the table, and flipped it around. Then she started following the lines on it, going all over them with her index finger. Sean would be lying if he said he didn't find that slightly erotic but he managed to keep his cool.

"Hm, interesting," she finally declared letting his hand go.

"What? Did you read my hand? Is something wrong?" He had never believed in that kind of things, but she seemed so sure or herself that she probably could convince him that auras really existed or that she was reading his mind. Sean made a note to himself to keep his thoughts light, just in case.

"No, not at all, you just have an island at the end of your life line. See, I have one too." She showed him her own hand, pointing at a specific place on her palm, but he couldn't see anything. "At least it's not chained… or broken! Anyhow, palmistry is quite tricky, I haven't got the whole hang of it yet," she added, shrugging and taking a bite from her plate, which had arrived in the meantime.

“And what does that mean, supposedly? The island and chains?” 

Sean thought that even if he didn't believe in those things he might as well learn about them. Who knew. Maybe one day that information might be useful. After all, knowledge was power, right?

“And island in the life line means an illness, accident or loss of health in general. But, mind you, it's at the end of the line, so it makes sense, right? Anyhow, don't worry, it could be thousands of things, or maybe nothing. Dana has some chains in her early life line –which means health or emotional problems– and she's been strong as a bull forever.”

 

(…)

 

Melissa used the spare set of keys on Dana's door. She wondered whether her sister would be in bed already, as she knew Dana usually woke up quite early during the week. She was tired already, and she hadn't risen as early as her sister might have.

As soon as she opened the door and entered the main room, she realized it was not the case. Dana was sprawling on her sofa talking on the phone.

“What, a guy? No! You know I don't have time for that. It's Missy, she's staying the weekend for our mom's birthday.”

There was some talking on the other side of the line that she couldn't hear, but as she approached her sister she could see the smile on her face. That had to be Fox, especially taking into account the late hour.

“I'll tell them both. Goodnight Mulder,” she said hanging up the phone. “Mulder sends his regards,” Dana talked to her leaving the receiver on the coffee table and sitting up, making some space for her on the sofa and patting on it to encourage her to sit. "So, how was your date?"

"Not bad, the guy is nice. But next time, I'd appreciate it if you could find me somebody who is not head over heels for you," Missy quickly answered, taking off her coat and sitting by her sister's side.

"What do you mean?"

"Once I asked him about his job, he could only recall each and every piece of evidence you had given to him. It seemed as if you are the only agent in the whole damn building," Missy laughed.

She had had a really nice night –better than with any other guy Dana had hooked her up with. Sean was really attentive and fun. But it was clear from the first minute that he had not been expecting her.

"You are exaggerating."

Dana was not believing her. As usual. Melissa wondered how on Earth she had ended up with such a know-it-all younger sister. Ever since she had started talking and making use of her mind, there was no way that Dana Katherine took her older sister's words seriously.

"So, either you don't understand how flirting works or you are totally blind. Because this guy is completely infatuated with you."

"Don't mess with me, Missy, I'm sure agent Pendrell—"

"And that makes me wonder about Fox and how you swear he has never, _ever_ , flirted with you. Lil' sister, did you really learn nothing in college?"

Sometimes she couldn't understand how her sister was so clever in most things but so dumb in general social interactions. Melissa knew it in her heart –she'd known since she had met him in that hideous hospital room– that Fox Mulder was in love with her sister. Just as much as she could tell Sean Pendrell was, too. But Dana was a thick head, there was no way Missy could make her believe it was so.

"Ugh, please, not again? I don't wanna start arguing about that—"

"It's ok, just forget it. The guy is quite cute, you were right, he's really nice. And he didn't laugh at my mumbo-jumbo as you like to call it. So, yeah, I might see him again some time."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to @monikafilefan for her beta-help on this one :D


End file.
